A Magus at a Table

Oil painting on oak panel, A Magus at a Table, by Jan Lievens (Leyden 1607 - Amsterdam 1674), circa 1631, signed and dated on parcel, bottom left: Rembrandt f. 16. [last two numerals indistinct], a false signature. A priest stands in a darkened room before an altar, wearing a golden robe and writing in a book which he supports on his left forearm. On the altar table, covered by gold cloth, a large volume rests on a folio of engravings, the impression hanging over the edge of the altar appears to show a bust-length figure, facing, with an aureole of light emanating from the head. In the background a chair is placed beneath heavy folds of dark-green curtain; the scene is lit by two candles placed...